SIA: Chapter 3
The first person Kathleen ran into the next day was Lester. And he was asking about her song. "Ano na? Nag-decide na kayo ni Jeff?" he asked. "Sinong nasunod?"
"Ah, actually, hindi pa kami nag-uusap 'eh," she told him.
"Ano ka ba girl!" he said, slapping the air in front of her face. "Sa Friday na 'yung contest 'ah! This week! Baka nakakalimutan mo. Kailangan n'yo na 'yung song by today, ilalagay pa namin 'yun sa programme."
Kathleen furrowed her eyebrows. "Oo," she nodded. "Kakausapin ko na si Jeff today, promise."
"Mamayang hapon 'ah," he said as he pointed a finger at her, and then went on his way.
Kathleen groaned and went straight to the work station Jeff was at. Or at least she tried to. On the way towards it, she ran into Adam.
"Good morning," he said, and flashed her a smile. "Kumusta ka?"
She smiled politely. "Okey naman," she said. "Ikaw?"
He nodded. "Okey rin, especially ngayon, kasi nandito ka na."
Kathleen hadn't meant to, but she blushed. She just wasn't used to compliments like that. What was up with him anyway? "Thanks," she said, although she wasn't sure if it was the right thing to say. Was what he said considered a compliment anyway? "Um, may kailangan pala ko gawin. Sige," she stepped aside so she could walk past him. And she walked faster, so she'd get to Jeff's work station right away. She did reach it quickly, but it was empty. He probably hadn't arrived yet. She sighed heavily, and turned around to go back to her own work station.
"Uy!"
"Ouch!" Kathleen jumped backwards. She had just bumped into something and her forehead told her it wasn't the padded wall of the cubicles. The low exclamation of surprise told her that it was Jeff.
"Ba't nandito ka?" he asked. "Wala kang mananakaw sa'kin, mahirap lang ako," he said.
Kathleen tried to roll her eyes, but managed to laugh instead. Her hand was still on the spot on her forehead where she'd hit him. She drew her hand back quickly, thinking she must look like a crazy person. "'Yung song ko," she said, "sabi kasi ni Lester, kailangan na daw talagang i-finalize by today."
"Ah, oo nga pala," he said suddenly as if he remembered something, and produced a piece of paper from his pocket. "Ito, nag-lista ako ng mga songs na babagay rin sa boses mo," he handed it to her.
"Ha?" she asked, taking the piece of paper from him. "Paano mo naman nalaman ano bagay sa boses ko?" she said as she read the titles he'd written. There were about 10 songs listed, and most of them were well-known songs. Impressively, he'd listed down songs that she also liked. "Wait," she squinted at one title. "Paraiso?!" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Bakit?" he asked. "Maganda naman 'yun 'ah, saka bagay na bagay 'yun sa image mo."
"Image ka diyan," she rolled her eyes. "At paano mo naman nasabi kung ano ang image ko? Paano mo nalaman kung anong kaya ng boses ko?"
"Pinakinggan kita sa praktis kahapon, diba? Di alam ko na," he said as-a-matter-of-factly.
Kathleen looked at the list again, and then shook her head. Although they were very good songs, which she would be able to sing well, she still didn't want to change her original decision. She'd already practiced it and everything. "Thanks for the advice, but I think I'm the one who can tell what song goes with my voice best," she said, handing him back the piece of paper.
"Hindi kaya ganun 'yon," he told her. "Hindi naman ikaw ang nakakarinig sa boses mo, kami 'eh," he pointed out. "Ganito na lang, praktis tayo mamaya. Praktisin natin 'yung mga songs diyan, pati 'yung Say It Again kung gusto mo. Tapos saka tayo mamili, okey?"
She shook her head again. "Hindi na talaga, 'yung Say It Again na. May copy ako ng chords kung gusto mo."
"May copy na rin ako," he said, shaking his head.
"Ha?" she said, surprised. "Sabi mo ayaw mo tugtugin 'eh ba't may copy ka?"
"Hinde, 'eh tetestingin nga natin diba?" he told her. "Kung alin ang pinaka-mag-work sa boses mo, 'eh 'di 'yun na 'yung final answer."
She laughed. "Parang lab expirement 'ah."
"Oo, para masabi mo namang natignan mo na talaga lahat ng angles bago ka gumawa ng disisyon," he said.
Kathleen stopped laughing. "Ano?" she asked, remembering that she had just said practically the exact same sentence to Adam last night.
"Sabi ko, mas-mabuting matignan mo muna lahat ng angulo bago ka gumawa ng disisyon," he repeated, looking at her.
She stepped back suddenly, not knowing how to react. Why did he just say that? She furrowed her eyebrows and turned to walk away. "Alam ko," she said coldly, and then hurried back to her work station.
"The thing about love is I never saw it coming..."
Jeff had already pushed the door slightly ajar when he heard the sound coming from inside the meeting room. He peered through the opening and saw Kathleen inside, practicing her song, with his guitar. He shortly debated with himself whether he should interrupt her or not. He only had to look at her again to decide. She looked so concentrated on what she was doing, he figured he should at least let her finish the song.
He cringed when she made a mistake. He was surprised when he saw she could play the guitar, but realized then that she was probably still learning. And he noticed something else: She was singing the song slowly. It was probably because she had difficulty changing from chord to chord, and she couldn't very well sing the line before she got the right chord for it, but the effect was something different. It didn't sound like an amateur playing the guitar and practicing a song (except when she made mistakes), it sounded like a different rendition of the upbeat song into a slower, more sentimental version.
Move in a little closer
Take it to a whisper...
She seemed out of breath on the second line, but maybe she did that on purpose. The delivery of the line was different, but it was just right. It was like she was playing a different song, as if it was something she wrote and sang herself. And it sounded really good. Jeff was so impressed, he just leaned against the door frame and looked at her.
"It's like the whole world stops to listen," Kathleen sang, nodding her head with the slow beat. She started to look up at the last line, "when you tell me you're--" she stopped abruptly when she saw him at the doorway.
"Ay sorry," Jeff quickly said, himself startled. He went inside the room and closed the door behind. "Mukhang seryoso ka kasi kaya 'di kita inistorbo."
Kathleen merely blushed. She didn't know what to say so she stood up instead and placed the guitar back on the chair it had been leaning on. Her back was towards Jeff when he started talking again.
"Maganda pala 'pag ganun 'yung song," he said. "'Pag mabagal 'ah, hindi 'pag ikaw kumakanta."
She couldn't help but laugh. "Well, siyempre," she said, looking at him. "Substitute lang naman ako dito 'eh."
"Hay nako ayan ka nanaman," he said, rolling his eyes. "Papaano ka mananalo niyan kung ganyan ang attitude mo?"
Kathleen laughed. "Hello? Sino ba nagsabing gusto ko manalo?"
"Ayaw mo manalo 'eh ba't sumali ka pa?"
She shrugged. "'Eh naka-leave si Clarissa 'eh, tapos wala nang ibang gusto."
"So gusto mo nga?"
"Hinde!" she said. "Napilitan lang ako. Baka sunod kay Clarissa 'eh ako na 'yung pinakamadaling pilitin kaya ayan."
"Kahit pa," he said. "Hindi ka naman nila pipilitin kung wala ka talagang talent, diba?"
"Hinde, well..." she was at a loss for words again. She normally was very talkative, but somehow around Jeff, she was always too surprised to say anything. She was still thinking of what to say when someone suddenly entered the room.
Lester made an awful lot of noise when he pushed the door to the meeting room open. "Hoy kayo, ano na? Kailangan ko na matapos 'yung programme!" he said to Jeff and Kathleen. "Anong decision n'yo?"
"Ha? 'Eh hindi pa--" Kathleen started.
"Say It Again," Jeff interrupted her. Kathleen turned her head sharply towards him, again, surprised. But Jeff just repeated what he said, "Say It Again na."
"Okey, final na 'yan 'ah, wala nang bawian!" Lester said, but disappeared before they could say anything else. When the door closed behind him, Jeff turned to Kathleen.
"O, ba't ganyan ang mukha mo? Akala ko gusto mo 'yung song na 'yun?" he teased. Kathleen still had the same shocked expression on her face since he first told Lester the song title.
"'Eh ikaw, akala ko ba ayaw mo 'yun?" she countered.
"'Eh..." he shrugged, and then smiled. "Malakas ka sa'kin 'eh."
***
